The article you're about to read is true, the names are changed to protect
the embarrassed (especially the victim within this article.)
In the early Spring of last year (2001) towards the end of the month of
March, I received a phone call from a prospective student who was inquiring
about my 3-Day "On-Water" Bass Fishing School. For now, we will just call
him John Doe, anyway in our conversation while acquiring about my school he
stated that he had been bass fishing for several years as well as belonging
to a bass club. After listening to him for awhile, I drew the conclusion
that the problem with John's frustration was that for over the past four
years with all of his tournament fishing he never as much as cashed in a
check, even from all the smaller 10 to 15 boat tournaments that he had ever
fished. Then, while John was talking about his past experiences, he said
that he had caught a lot of bass over the years on many different baits but
when it came to fishing bass tournaments he just couldn't for the life of
him make a check.
I asked John several different questions that I usually ask prospective
students, to give me a better insight on him, and to allow me to put
together a personalized criteria for him while attending my school. Some of
the questions I asked him were:
1. How long have you been bass fishing?
2. What your favorite types of baits that you mostly use?
3. What kind of equipment he used?
4. What he expects to learn from my school?
5. What his goals were concerning his future in bass fishing?
6. How much understanding he had concerning bass habits, Etc.......
After talking for a few moments about these questions mentioned, John said
that he knew of a newly formed bass tournament trail that he was interested
in joining, but the bass trail was a partners (or team) trail and that he
didn't know that much about this type of trail. He stated that his main
concern about this team trail was that he wasn't sure about finding a
fishing partner that he could get along with during the course of the trail
season. I told John that I have taught several husband and wife teams (as
well as girlfriend/boyfriend teams) that fish these types of trails and that
if his wife might be interested at all in bass fishing to enroll both of
them into the school and give it a try. He kinda chuckled at this idea and
stated that she wouldn't know a plastic worm from a spinnerbait, but after a
moment he thought to himself what the heck and that he would give it a try
with his wife as his partner. Then he began to warn me that his wife would
be like teaching a school kid that probably wouldn't give two hoots about
any bass fishing subject matter, in fact, he said that she had never even
picked up a fishing rod in her life except for the ones that he owned, just
to throw them in the closet from being in her way. John said to give him a
while to talk with her and that he'd get back to me as soon as he could and
hung up the phone. About two hours later my phone rang, I picked it up and
you'll never guess who was on the other end...... you guessed right, it was
John. He sounded very excited in a funny kind of way, and before I had a
chance to say much of anything, he said that the first week of June would be
great for him and his wife to come to the school if I had a three day slot
open (which I did), so they enrolled.
Now, when they arrived in my area the night before the start of their first
day of "on-water" instruction, they called me at home to let me know where
they were staying. They also wanted to know where they could get a New York
State and a Vermont State fishing license as well as to where and what time
to meet me in the morning.
The next morning while I was launching my boat I heard a vehicle drive up
towards my van and stop. I looked over to the vehicle and there in this car
was John and his wife both just-a waving their hands in an anxious manner.
I walked over to their vehicle to introduce myself and to welcome them.
When John got out of his car, the first thing I noticed was that he was
wearing so many product patches on his clothing that he must have been
covered just about from head to toe. Then when I glanced inside the car and
especially when he popped the trunk open, I'd say that this fellow brought
enough bass baits and lures to supply the whole town, I mean this guy had
just about everything you can imagine! His wife being a very petite woman
stepped out of the car and walked over to me and introduced herself as
Nancy, shook my hand, and while looking back over towards John as he was
piling all his stuff on the ground she was shaking her head in embarrassment
and asked me; "does he really need all that stuff?" With a big smile I
walked over to the rear of the car where John was unloading the car and
looked at the enormous stack of equipment piled on the ground. I asked John
if he minded if I might look over some of the stuff that he'd brought with
him which he said "please do." After going through his things he brought
with him, I picked out a couple of his boxes and said that we'll start with
these the first day and whatever else was needed for the day I would gladly
supply. I then started looking through all the rods and reels he brought
with him (about 20 in all.) I picked out about six rods of different
assorted sizes and actions out of the bunch and said that these would be
good for him and Nancy to start with. After selecting some of the necessary
things we'd start with, I helped him load the car back up with all the other
stuff he had piled on the ground and we were on our way....
One of the most important subjects that I teach my students while attending
my school is "Smart Shopping" I try to help my students by showing them to
just buy what is practical and really needed the most when it comes to bass
fishing. There are multitudes of baits, rods, reels, lines, hooks, and so
much different equipment on today's market that the average angler thinks
that he or she just has to have all these good looking baits to catch bass,
this is all just great company marketing and packaging.
Well, here we go! finally in the boat and headed out to some areas of the
lake that I like to teach at. The whole time while being enroute to the
first spot, John couldn't stop telling me about some of his great bass
fishing stories that he experienced in his past, after hearing some of
these stories I was wondering if I should have him teach me instead of me
teaching him.
So as the day went on, we got on the subject of Spinnerbaits. John had said
that this was one of his favorite baits and it would be hard to beat him
using one because he has already mastered this bait! John's wife, Nancy
just sat there once again just shaking her head in embarrassment. I then
showed Nancy that certain spinnerbaits right out of the package can be
modified to sometimes perform a little better than just tying them on, and
how to (tweak) or modify this certain spinnerbait she was about to learn
with. As I was teaching this to her, John was casting his spinnerbait along
a weed line just a few feet from where the boat was sitting, as I kept
looking over at him I'd see him reel it in, cast it, reel it in, cast it,
but with no success at all. I had explained to John that with colder water
situations (which the water was about 52 degrees) the spinnerbait may be
successful if he would slow down his presentation, to which he kinda
chuckled and said, "Let the master show you how it's done" and he kept on
casting at a fast pace.
Now after a couple of minutes went by while I was instructing Nancy about
working spinnerbaits, John didn't seem to want to see or listen to what I
was showing and telling her about a spinnerbait and he kept on casting.
John must have made fifty or sixty casts while I was instructing Nancy on
this bait and he said, "We need to move to a different location because if
there was a bass in here, I'm sure that I would have caught it already!"
Now, with a smile on my face I told Nancy to make a cast right along the
same weed line that John had been working during this time, but to slow her
spinnerbait down and to maintain a steady slow retrieve back to the boat.
Her first cast wasn't close to the weed line, so I told her to take her time
and concentrate, aim to where she was going to cast and try again. Now,
after her first cast (not being in the area I wanted her to be, John said;
"see, there ain't no bass in here so we need to move." I told John that I
wanted Nancy to make a second cast along this weed line and then we'll head
for another location if he wished. So Nancy aimed, casted, and hit the area
right where I had told her to start her retrieve from. She did exactly as I
instructed her to do (as far as making a slow-roll retrieve), and then I
heard her scream with excitement, "I got something!, I got something!" With
her rod bending the way it was I then knew it had to be a fish with some
quality to it. She kept on reeling and the line would peel off the reel so
I reached over and tightened her drag a little bit. When she got the fish
close to the boat we all got a glimpse of it, and it looked to be at least a
five pounder (largemouth) just as it came close to the surface. I thought to
myself that I'd better grab the net for this one, and as I was getting the
net I told her to keep the slack out of her line and hold the bass as close
to the side of the boat as possible. I then reached under the bass with the
net and pulled it out of the water and got it into the boat. Both John and
Nancy just starred in amazement at the size of the fish. I then got my
scale out and weighed the bass to which my scale kept on going back and
forth between 7.3oz and 7.5oz's... Nancy's excitement was just like a kid
going to Disney World for the first time, but John was very envious because
he thought that he should have caught the bass instead of her.
About a hour or two went by since Nancy caught the bass, and since that time
John started showing a very frustrated attitude towards Nancy because she
just kept on bragging about how women were as just as good anglers as men.
Keeping in mind that John needed a partner for this new tournament trail and
talked Nancy into enrolling into my school with him was all John's idea. So
as the day went on, John started getting more jealous towards his wife after
catching that trophy bass and started criticizing her in just about
everything she did from that point on. Well, let me tell you guys a secret!
"Never criticize a woman for catching bass" because a few moments later
while I was looking in front of the boat while moving it up a bit with the
trolling motor I heard John say something to Nancy in a sarcastic tone of
voice and all of a sudden I heard a big splash in the water behind the boat.
I looked back and noticed that Nancy had just about enough of Johns sarcasm
and pushed him into the water. I couldn't help but laugh (not that he didn't
deserve it) but I tried to keep the humor to myself and helped John out of
the water. John, being all wet said that was it for the first day and for me
to head back to the launch area, so I did.
For the next two days, especially after eating some humble pie, John had
changed his attitude and was convinced that women are just as good anglers
as the men are and he was proud to have his wife as his partner (sounds to
me like they had a good discussion last night). Nancy was a amazing student
and adapted quickly to the many different baits, patterns, and techniques
she was taught during the 3-day school period. John was also a good student
when he finally started listening to me while teaching many different baits,
and after he started catching bass on these new techniques, he realized
that he didn't know as much as he thought.
All in all John and Nancy had a great time on the water learning many
different baits, new techniques and patterns, but the greatest thing about
the whole trip is that they both learned enough to take second place in
their first tournament they had fished together. They had emailed me telling
me this news, and to thank me again for all that I had taught them. They
also mentioned that they wanted to enroll next season in the school again to
learn even more!
To sum it up; even though you may fish an area with a certain bait and
don't get a strike on it, change the technique and make that second cast, or
even try a different bait before you move on. Secondly, always remember that
women anglers can be (and some are!) just as good, if not better than men.
As much as the men love the sport of bass fishing, why not for women to
enjoy it as well? If you wish to learn more about my bass fishing school or
just wish to charter a trip with me, you can visit my web sites at:
www.capital.net/~rlbrown or www.fishing-boating.com/basscoach or you can
drop me a email at: rlbrown@capital.net, or you may call me at: (518)
597-4240....
Until next time!.....Take Care & God Bless!..... "The Bass Coach"..Roger Lee
Brown